Medical Officer of Health does the right thing for the child

Last week, the City of Toronto Medical Officer of Health urged the Board of Health Budget Committee to adopt a proposal by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) and the Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education (KCJE) to extend the city’s Nutrition Program to students attending independent schools, including Jewish day schools.

The Nutrition Program attempts to ensure that children whose families are struggling with poverty will not be deprived of the essential tools of succeeding in school. In this case, the essential tool of course, is a nutritious meal so that the child will not have to try to learn while distracted or even suffering from hunger.

We applaud the initiative by CIJA and the KCJE. And we especially applaud the wisdom, foresight and generosity of spirit of the City of Toronto Medical Officer of Health. We hope the Officer’s recommendations will be adopted.

Especially heartening is the acuity of insight demonstrated by this decision of the Medical Officer of Health. Officer understands and acknowledges that the most important determinant governing intervention by government is the condition of the child, not the name of the child’s school. What counts above all else is doing the right thing for the child.

How principled and welcome it would be if the Ontario government were to adopt the same line of reasoning in relation to students with learning disabilities.